Administrative Feet

So I guess some of you know (or maybe not) that I have started my healthcare administration internship at the local hospital here in Franklin. To tell the truth, the reason I initially chose the hospital is because of its location, which is exactly four minutes away from my house. Our internships are unpaid, and so four minutes away is a Good Thing, economically speaking. I'll talk more about the internship itself on a later date. The thing I need to expound on at the moment is the unfairness of the burden placed on administrative feet.

It seems that in order for one's feet to be professional, one must wear hose and dress shoes. We're talking about someone who has worn tennis shoes to work practically every day of my working life. Until now.

I'm three weeks into my internship, and my feet feel used and abused. I have almost exhausted my band aid supply. What works perfectly well with which to waltz into and back out of church simply does not work so well when it comes to tromping around a hospital for 8 hours. Sure, you sit for a good portion of the day, but it doesn't shorten the length halls.

What's that? Wear comfortable dress shoes? Well, the only dress shoes I think that have been reported to be comfortable are Really Ugly Shoes, IMHO. Heels like miniature tree trunks? No thanks. Complicating the matter is the need to wear a dress. As I look at what other people are wearing, oh sure… they can wear ugly, comfortable shoes, but they're wearing pants and only the tips of their shoes are showing.

So as I pass the nurses and the housekeeping staff and the dietary people, I gaze longingly at their Crocs and their tennis shoes. How much better working for free would be if I just had comfy shoes!?! I selected my outfit very carefully on this very morning and gingerly slipped into yet another pair of dress shoes. And my feet Remembered yesterday…. Painfully. So in a moment laced with impulsiveness, I decided that I was going to wear my Crocs Primas. I asked Sharon if it looked just dreadful. She stood there in her comfy flip flops, evaluating my less than professional outfit, but she seemed to think that it might be ok. And so I wore Crocs to work! And my feet hummed a little tune.

So what do you think? If I wear my Primas, am I committing professional bankruptcy?